New cooperation with Toshiba Europe: towards low-iridium PEM electrolyzers
18-02-2025
On January 27, a kick-off meeting at TNO’s Faraday Lab in Petten, the Netherlands, marked the start of a cooperation with Toshiba Europe. In the coming months, Toshiba’s low-iridium membrane electrode assembly for PEM electrolyzers will undergo high-pressure testing in Petten to validate the performance under industrially relevant conditions and EU market protocols. The project is the first of its kind in what is expected to become an on-going cooperation in green hydrogen technology.
The cooperation underpins the strong position of the Faraday Lab among the few high-pressure electrolyzer testing facilities in Europe, says Tara van Abkoude. As a Business Developer for Green Hydrogen production at the Industry division of TNO’s department Energy and Materials Transition, she welcomes the cooperation with Toshiba. The company has developed a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) for proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis that stands out for its low iridium content. As such, it can minimize the need for the scarce and costly precious metal in the production of green hydrogen. “By testing of these MEA’s in the Faraday Lab under industrial conditions and EU market protocols, we contribute to Toshiba’s journey in bringing this technology to market”, Van Abkoude says.
The cooperation adds to TNO’s strong track record in developing and testing electrolyzers and their components. A recent example is the SuperCell shared research program that focuses on performance, cost, and durability of a new generation of PEM electrolyzer cells and is part of Voltachem’s Power2Hydrogen efforts. Scarce materials are one of the key aspects of SuperCell, following TNO’s development of a low-iridium PEM concept. “In our cooperation with Toshiba we make use of already available test protocols that will be adapted and adjusted so that together we can validate the MEA performance”, says Van Abkoude. “The knowledge we generate will benefit us both, and potentially the wider field of PEM electrolysis.”
Accelerate the sustainability transition
During 2024, Toshiba opened its first European hydrogen business base in Düsseldorf, Germany. Kazuto Hasebe, General Manager of Hydrogen Business Development at Toshiba Europe expects the cooperation with TNO to contribute to his company’s goals in the development and industrialization of green hydrogen technology. “As we use Toshiba's advanced technology to expand our business in Europe, at the heart of a carbon-neutral ecosystem, we are very excited to have started the cooperation with TNO. As an authority in water electrolysis research, this is an important component to the future success of our business.”
To Van Abkoude, the cooperation is a perfect example of how TNO contributes to technology development in cooperation with relevant industries. “We can assist in bringing technology to market and engage in strategic cooperation to enhance knowledge development. Through such collaborative efforts we want to accelerate the energy and materials transition.”
See also
On the photo from left to right: Representatives from TNO and Voltachem sealing the cooperation during the kick-off meeting, starting at the left Bas van Dijk, Jochen Loffler, Tara van Abkoude, Kazuto Hasebe, Norihiro Yoshinaga, Shoichi Hidai.
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